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A New Life

For years, Dick Lund and a handful of friends have competed in fishing tournaments in the upper Midwest region. Diagnosed with type II diabetes in 1995 he continued fishing, but as time passed he had doubts about joining his friends in the 2013 tournaments.

“We were planning what tournaments we wanted to do in the summer,” he said. “There were four of us and they were rattling off this one, this one and this one, and I was sitting there the whole time thinking, ‘How am I going to do this?’”

While waiting for a transplant, he was scheduled to have a peritoneal catheter placed in preparation for dialysis the day after the planning meeting. A friend followed Lund to his truck after the meeting and encouraged him to keep up his spirits. “He said, ‘Hurry up and get that (transplant) phone call now so we can get this thing going.’ I backed my truck up five feet and my phone rang,” Lund said. “I didn’t even have to look at the phone. I just knew what it was.”

Just four months after being listed for transplant, Sanford Health called Lund to say that a perfectly-matched kidney had become available and surgery needed to be scheduled right away. It was the beginning of a new life for Lund and his family.

“Life, for most of us, is a one-shot deal,” he said. “Very infrequently, a person gets a do-over.”

Lund said he received the best care at Sanford from the moment he sought help with chronic kidney disease in September 2012. The medical team shepherded him through care that helped prolong his waning kidney function, and complete diagnostics and lab tests to get him on the kidney transplant waiting list in November 2012. They also helped with preparations for dialysis, assisted him and his wife, JoAnn, with the necessary testing to qualify for the paired donor listing, which is a program where a patient’s spouse or relative is willing to donate a kidney in exchange for a kidney to the patient, and arranged Lund’s kidney transplant.

Sanford’s transplant team orchestrated the transplant surgery, recovery and comprehensive follow-up for Lund. Everyone’s attention to detail, knowledge and compassion facilitated a seamless and flawless journey.

“The team consisting of nurses, pharmacist, dietician, social worker, financial coordinator and office staff has given us professional and personalized care far beyond what anyone would dream possible,” Lund said.

This is an example of how so many departments come together to impact the life of a patient. Because of generous donors, each department is able to provide the most effective health care possible. Gifts allow dedicated Sanford employees to work together and care for patients, like Lund, when every detail counts.